What are the best resources for biblical study, both personal devotional and more intense, academic-focused study?
General Recommendations:
Archive.org has many books that are free to download as a pdf, or you may even check out a title for a couple hours at a time. Any classic resource for philology or biblical studies will usually be available there, often in an extremely long pdf—but free is free!
For Devotional Readers or Beginners:
biblegateway.com: To read the Bible in practically any language you can dream of. There is also a parallel reading capability on the website. Comparing two or more different English versions is a great way to begin to dig deeper and use your critical thinking.
blueletterbible.com: Many free tools here, including interlinear of the original languages, as well as the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint). More details to follow. biblehub.com is another similar resource with an online concordance, interlinear reading, and some old commentaries.
gotquestions.org – I use this sometimes to find the theological meaning or historical context behind certain difficult or strange biblical passages. This is an excellent source, everything is simply and concisely written.
For The Deeply Curious or Academically-Inclined:
Many scholars have published volumes in what is called an OpenAcess format, which means that the pdf is free to download. The best way to find these is to know the name of the scholar and to look for their CV online, and see if any of their publications are OpenAccess. Or get creative with a Google search.
Many scholars also routinely make available their work on a website called academia.edu. You can follow your favorite scholars and keep up on their work, and many resources are available there, from articles and papers to the occasional full book.
Excellent College-Level Courses on the Bible
“The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem” by Oded Lipschits at Tel Aviv University on Coursera.
“The Bible in Light of the Ancient Near East” by Nili Samet at Bar Ilan University on EdX.
Last updated: 20 November 2023
Leslie Flores 